• Transvestism: a survey of 1032 cross- dressers.rs

  • by Richard F. Docter , Virginia Prince

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  • "In 1972, Prince and gentler presented the results of a survey of 504 transvestites that has been widely relied upon; the present study is a replication of this earlier work. A principle reason for undertaking this study is that there have been several social changes over the past 20 years affecting cross- dressers. These developments have included the decriminalization of cross-dressing that existed in some jurisdictions, the formation of support groups in most of the larger cities of the world, informative television programs about cross-dressing and transsexualism, and the establishment of two national organizations addressing the concerns of cross-dressers and transsexuals. Our primary goal was to compare cross-dressers sampled a generation apart across the following variables: (i) demographic, childhood and family factors, (ii) sexual orientation and sexual behavior, (iii) cross-gender identity, (iv) cross-gender role behavior, (v) future plans to live entirely as a woman, (vi) reliance upon counseling or mental health services.

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  • ​A secondary objective concerns the classification of transvestites. There is reason to believe that at least two subgroups of cross-dressers (excluding transgenderists and transsexuals) may be identified based on differences in cross-gender identity (Benjamin, 1966; gentler, 1976; Blanchard et al., 1987; Brierley, 1979; Buhrich and McConaghy, 1977, 1979). A variety of terminology has been used to identify these two groups. For the present report, we simply identify them as Groups 1 and 2. We believe these two groups are akin to the Nuclear and Marginal transvestite subgroups described by Buhrich and McConaghy (1977, 1979). A review of classification issues and reports of transvestite subgroups has been provided by Docter (1988). Summarizing across several reports, it would be predicted that cross-dressers assigned to our Group 1, as compared to Group 2, would be characterized by higher sexual arousal, lower cross-gender identity, propensity for heterosexual orientation, less propensity to feminize the body, and less motivation to live entirely as a woman. Group 2 cross- dressers would be predicted to show a stronger cross-gender identity, eagerness for feminization of the body, less sexual arousal associated with cross dressing, a propensity for sexual relationships with males, and transsexual inclinations including plans for living entirely as a woman. We divided the present sample into two groups differing in cross-gender identity; these groups were then compared across the variables noted above. Clarification of these two groups of cross dressers relates not only to the problem of classification but also to the little understood question of what variables, if any, may predict the evolution of periodic cross-dressers into full-time cross-dressers who live entirely as women, with or without surgical or hormonal sex reassignment."

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